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CHAPTER IV
ANALYZING MAKKY AND MADANY SCIENCE WITH
GADAMER’S HERMENEUTICS
A. The Contiguous Between Makky and Madany Science and Gadamer’s
Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics, for Gadamer, is not reconstruction, but mediation. We
are the transmitter of the past to the present. The essence of understanding
remains a mediation or translation of the meaning of the past into the present
situation. Thus, Gadamer emphasizes particularly not to the application of a
method by subject, but rather to the continuity of history, which is the
medium that pervades every action of subjects and objects that s/he
understood. Understanding is an event, a history of its own motion that either
the translator or the text cannot be thought as autonomous parts. The core of
understanding is an action of going into transmission events in which past and
present are constantly mediated.1
Such definition of hermeneutics above is thus deemed suitable by the
writer to analyze Makky and Madany Science. Makky and Madany science is
one of sub-disciplines of Ulum al-Quran that discuss the problem of
categorization of verses and chapters in the Qur'an based on phases of
revelation. Makky verses and chapters have different style and content from
Madany verses and chapters. The differences are in line with the motion of
developing reality of the Islamic societies,2 which are, according to this
science, divided into two phases: Makky phase and Madany phase. Each
phase represents the context and horizons of both; horizon of past that
stretches across 14 century. Then it’s our task as a transmitter to mediate
1Adnin Armas, M.A,. Hermeneutika Gadamer dan Dampaknya Terhadap Studi Qur’an,
paper presented in INSISTS discussion on August 11, 2007. 2 Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, Tekstualitas al-Qur'an: Kritik terhadap ‘Ulumul Qur’an, Trans.
Khoiron Nahdiyyin, Yogyakarta: LkiS, 2002, p. 9.
65
between past horizons and now horizon in order to understand the
“meaningful senses” of the Qur’an.
Makky and Madany Science, when it is analyzed with Gadamer’s
hermeneutics, then we could withdraw a few points of contiguities. Those are:
hermeneutical circle, dialogue and logic of question and answer, the power of
rhetoric, and understanding as being historical (Past-Present-Future).
1. Hermeneutical Circle
The idea of the hermeneutical circle as an approach to
understanding is rooted in ancient rhetoric and the attempt to understand
sentences. The essence of the hermeneutical circle is the relationship
between the whole and its parts. The parts cannot be understood in
isolation from the whole, and the whole is understood by the coherence of
the parts. Interpretation moves in a circle between parts of the text and the
whole text and between the whole text and parts of the text. Viewed by
some as a paradox, the theory of the hermeneutical circle asserts “that we
cannot truly understand the text’s structural and linguistic parts except in
the light of the whole, and yet we can only know the whole as it is
expressed in its parts.” As Gadamer points out:
“ this is a logically circular argument, insofar as the whole, in terms of which the part is to be understood, is not given before the part, unless in the manner of a dogmatic canon ... or of some analogous preconception of the spirit of an age...”3
People noticed long ago that certain concepts or elements of a text
cannot be examined independently from the meaning of the whole text, for
their meaning changes according to its unfolding. Dependence is mutual:
individual text elements change their meaning following the whole, just
3 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, edited translation by Garrett Barden and John
Cumming, New York: Seabury Press, 1975, p. 190.
66
like the whole changes with its parts. Thus, interpretation is characterized
by a certain inner unfolding of meaning.4
Related to Makky and Madany science, the concept of
hermeneutical circle will find its relevance to the identification method of
Makky and Madany verses and chapters. As already highlighted in chapter
two, there were two methods of identification for Makky and Madany,
namely deduction and induction. The first method relied on narrations,
nas}s}, and events that provide clues and history of the chapters and
verses. While the second method relied on the characteristics concluded
from uslu>b (layout and style of language) and mawdhu>’ (theme) of the
chapters and verses. The last method is essentially a hermeneutical circle
itself.
Still, the characters do not automatically invalidate the
generalization of specific aspects. As with all things there must be
exceptions, there is also no exception in this case. In each category of
Makky and Madany, there are exceptions. For example Al-A’raf [7], all
the verses are Makky except the verse 1635 is Madany, another opinion
that says verse 1726 also includes Madany. Otherwise, every verses of Al-
Hajj [22] are Madany except the verse 52 to 557 are Makky.
4 Duska Dobrosavljev, Gadamer's Hermeneutics As Practical Philosophy, FACTA
UNIVERSITATIS, Vol. 2, No. 9, 2002, p. 607. 5 The verse is :
���������� ��� ������������ ������� ��� �!" #$�%&�# )���*���� �+,� -.��/1�� 2,3
���455��� �+,� 6,�7�8�9�8 ���� ��;<�= �>�?�� ��,��;�@ �B�C�D� �>�?���� !E -.?;,45$F G !E 6,�<�8�9�8 H *��I⌧<!" �1K?1��4� �☺,M N�? ⌧O �P?Q�R5�S�� T�)U
6 The verse is : �+,��� ⌧<�V�W *XM�Y O��Z 3�\�M �>7��D ��Z
6�KY?��Q� ��]^�☺_�`Y1+ ��1K/�^�_�W�� �2#8�� ��^&aQS �W Q�5���W ��Db,#M��,M N
N�?D��� H2#8�M 5 c�� �/,�⌧� 5 .�W N�?D�?Q��8 �>�?�� ��☺d�7������ �e ,� �fgQ" ���� �⌧<dK
�3h,��Sd⌧i TjkU 7 The verses are :
c��Z�� ��g���Y�W ��Z *,��4� ��Z lm?�CY !E��
n.��o� pE,� ��+,� ���\☺�8 2�q���W ��d�r�<st��� u2,3
v�=�wfx�g�ZyW �z{5B�<�� |c�� ��Z 2&q����
��d�r�<st��� }616 ��&4��D~ |c�� v�=�wd����D b |c����
67
Although some Companions (e.g. Ali RA., Ibn Abbas and Ibn
Mas'ud) ensured that they know the horizon surrounding the revelation of
every verse, but the guarantee is not accompanied by the recording of the
context and chronology of each verse. This imbalance is then tried to be
bridged with the hermeneutical circle approach. Thus, this approach is in
line with the ideality of Qur’anic understanding which operates in a
comprehensive manner as a single entity, not as separate commands,
atomistic, and partial.8
In relation to textual comprehension, Gadamer states:
A person who is trying to understand a text is always projecting. He projects a meaning for the text as a whole as soon as some initial meaning emerges in the text. Again, the initial meaning emerges only because he is reading the texts with particular expectations in regard to a certain meaning. 9
What really takes place during the process of understanding is the
formation of a common situation of communication. It is the only way to
let the other side express itself. Present horizon is neither closed nor it can
be separated from the past, but it grows inside of it—that is the real
meaning of the above—mentioned assertion that there is no particular
horizon-in-itself. Genuine interweavement of all horizons is at issue, by
understanding the past ones, we build a huge, common horizon that is
permanently on move. Likewise the above-mentioned hermeneutical circle
is determined by the constant mutual influence of its parts and its whole, a
huge horizon is influenced by a smaller and vice versa. When we try to
�67,��� �67&b= ,kU !n1���<��� ��Z 2&q����
��d�r�<st��� g��g;�� -�������� 2,3 �^l?1�1
⌦���fZ ���<&��������� ����M?1�1 b �.,���
�3��☺,�d�Q��� 2&��� ������� */<�1�M ,)U
��#�1�<���� -����c�� N�?18�yW �6���1����
=e �W Yh����� ��Z -�,�M}Y N�?�g�Z��7�� v�=,M
{�,4�w�� ��W�c ����M?1�1 b fP,��� �c�� �7����
�3���c�� N�u?�g�Z��D H2#o,� ��I�%&� l67���w5XZ
,U !E�� �m����� -����c�� N����⌧S⌧O ~,3 *������
=B��Z H���= �����7�8�9�8 1����55��� I��;��M ��W
�����7�8�9�� ��⌧<�� Z��?�� m67���� ,,U 8 Ilyas Supena, Desain Ilmu-ilmu Keislaman Dalam pemikiran Hermeneutika Fazlur
Rahman, Semarang: Walisongo Press, 2008, p. 7. 9 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Op. Cit., p. 4.
68
understand someone, we never lose ourselves, but approach a more general
ground that represents our common space. Similarly, as we interpret texts,
we must not fix the meanings, so that the meaning of the whole could be
outlined. Particular meanings give a new sense to the whole, but, on the
other hand, the unfolding of the whole presents us with a new self-
understanding. Only by understanding others, we approach ourselves.
2. Dialogue and Logic of Question-Answer as Fusion of Horizon
Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics have a well known term
named “logic of question and answer.” It expresses what Gadamer holds as
“the most original hermeneutical phenomenon,” the most universal feature
of language, namely “that no statement is possible which could not be
understood as an answer to a question, and that the statement can always
be understood only in this way.” Whoever whises to understand a
proposition must first of all strive to understand the question which it is
attempting to answer, or the horizon of question that bring the proposition
about. Gadamer speaks of a “logic” of question and answer, and this logic,
as a discipline of truth in discourse, aims at suspending the predicative
logic which confines itself to the positivity of statements. The dialogic of
question and answer invites one to look at the truth of the discourse which
is at work in advance of our utterances, at the dialogue out of which such
statements “emerge”.10
Since comprehension is a communicative event, it has as its basic
characteristic the hermeneutical conversation. The central relationship of
this event is the question and answer. For Gadamer (2000), “(a) person
who thinks must ask himself questions.”11
In a dialogue, there is always a conversation between one party and
another as a dialogue partner. According to Gadamer, in every
conversation, both parties will be speaking in the same language. In
10 Jean Grondin, Sources of Hermeneutics, New York: State University of New York Press, 1995, p. 149.
11 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ibid, p. 333.
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looking at the conversation, we could simply say that we make
conversation. However, basically, we are the one who “fall” and engage in
the conversation.
In an interpretation of text by interpreter, there is a conversation
between the interpreter and the text. This interpretation is a closed circle in
dialectic of question and answer. In a dialogue between reader and text, it
is required “openness” so that the conversation can continue. The text is
not a passive party, but is also active in the conversation. In this condition,
the interpreter must be able to make the text speaks about the concept and
experience that they contain to be heard by the interpreter. “Al-Qur’a>n
la> yant}iqu, wa innama> yatakallamu bihi> al-rija>l,” that is what Ali
RA has said.12
In the process of dialogue, there is a process called fusion of
horizons. Text as the interpreted entity has its own horizon formed by the
tradition of the text. When humans try to understand and interpret a text,
the fusion between two different horizons will occur, i.e. horizons
interpreter and the horizon of the text. In such a fusion of horizons the
possibility of understanding will be shifted because the prior prejudices
and pre-judgment can be tested and reviewed to form new understanding.
This new understanding became a foundation for the interpreter and a pre-
understanding for subsequent interpretation. Dialogue with the text is a
process that occurs continually in the course of time.
Related with Makky and Madany science, the concept of dialogue
and logic of question and answer will find the relevance with the diverse
characters of the verses and chapters of the Qur’an. As highlighted in
previous chapters, Makky and Madany science differentiate characters of
Qur’anic verses and chapters in terms of structure and theme. Makky
12 According to Ali RA., The Qur'an is a text that does not speak. Who can make the
Qur'an speaks is human as its readers. The written Qur'an was compiled between two book covers that do not speak, except humans could make it speaks. See M. Nurkholis Setiawan, “Al-Qur’an dalam Kesarjanaan Klasik dan Kontemporer: Keniscayaan Geisteswissenschaften”, in Jurnal Studi Al-Qur’an, Jakarta: Pusat Studi Al-Qur’an, 2006, Vol. I, p. 83.
70
verses and chapters have different characters from Madany verses and
chapters. Social context, al-da’wah al-Isla>miyyah, and tashri>’ phases
for example, are the factors, or horizons, which affect these differences.
Any effort to interpret the Qur’an must consider the tradition, or horizon,
from which each Qur’anic verse emerges.
Different horizons of each verse make the Qur’an’s responses also
different, adjusting its interlocutor. The Qur’an shows its responses, either
in a form of discourse or rebuttal, through different language styles.13 Up
here, the hermeneutic problem that arises is that any languages, including
the scriptures, have limitation that is local because the language is a
cultural reality. Meanwhile the message and the truth of religion contained
in “the local language” have been a universal claim. In this aspect, the
language of religion is tested its sophistications to store religious messages
without having anomaly or trapped in the language it uses.14
In reading (and therefore interpreting) the Qur’an, the first
movement will occur between the reader and the Text. As a reader (and
therefore an interpreter), the question that has to be delivered is what the
text literally says and what it means to me. The further question is what
was the tradition or what were the historical circumstances surrounding the
text when it was written by the author? Finally, the reader poses a more
self-reflective question: How do I interpret this text with the tradition and
experiences that I have at my disposal?15
Understanding will only occur in historical context or horizon that
constantly changing. This has been one of the reasons why interpretation is
never monolithic, or has one single aspect, rigid and static. If the horizon
13 Uniquely, the Qur'an also uses the dialogue style approach to the verses. See e.g. Qur'an
dialogue with the infidels of Mecca who skeptic on eschatology in the Qur'an in Yasin [36]: 77-83. See Muhammad ‘Ata Al-Sid, Sejarah Kalam Tuhan, tran. Ilham B. Saenong, Bandung: Teraju, 2004, p. 127.
14 Syamsul Ma’arif, Metode Hermeneutik Untuk Penelitian Agama, in Teologia, Vol. 17, Semarang: Fakultas Ushuluddin IAIN Walisongo Semarang, 2006, p. 10
15 Yeni Ratna Yuningsih, “Is There Objective Meaning In A Text? Re-Examining Hirsch’s And Gadamer’s Interpretive Strategy”, in Indo Islamika Journal, Jakarta: Indo Islamika, 2007, p. 17
71
of history is constantly changing, understanding will follow its contour and
also its shape. Finally, understanding itself is a fusion of different
horizons, reciprocal relationships between various contexts. Gadamer
argued that a text, either it is a legal code or a holy book, should be
understood at all times, in specific situations, and in new ways that
different from old, if we want to understand both as they should be
understood.16
In a broader scope, dialogue can also occur between communities
that have different cultures and reason on the one hand, and time distance
on the other hand. It is our task to build a dialogue between the
communities of Arabian, the first recipient the Qur’anic verses, and the
contemporary community where we live. Each culture can influence and
criticize each other. Sharing and critique of a community’s reason can be
only within the context of a history which is effective. These two related
points have important repercussions for the possibility of dialogue among
communities and for the kind of changes individual communities
realistically can initiate.
3. The Power of Rhetoric
Text, in the view of hermeneutics, always has two components: the
structure of the author’s ideas and the actualization of those ideas into the
structure of language. Structure of ideas and structure of language need to
be noticed here in understanding a text.
Implicitly, this structure contains a problem concerning the nature
of the text, the ways used to understand it and how the understanding and
interpretation is determined by presupposition, belief or horizon of the
audience who become the addressee of the text.17
16 E. Sumaryono, Hermeneutika: Sebuah Metode Filsafat, Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 1995, p.
76-78 17 Van A. Harvey, “Hermeneutics”, in Mircea Eliade (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion,
New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1987, VI, p. 279.
72
The Qur’an, as sacred texts, is truly unique in composition. It is
neither prose nor poetry. But, there are a high frequency of rhetorical
features occupied in it. The Qur’an is a “sea of rhetoric”. The Qur’an
exhibits an unparalleled frequency of rhetorical features, surpassing any
other Arabic text, classical or modern. The use of rhetoric in the Quran
stands out from any type of discourse.18 A close up analysis of the Quran
can highlight a wide range and frequency of rhetorical features.19
The totality of every chapter has a special character, with its own
unique form, and its unique use of literary devices. Both Makky and
Madany use rhetorical form to send the messages of God to the first
addressee.
The features of the Qur’an are part of the reason of why it has not
been emulated to this day. The highly acclaimed Professor and Arabist
Hamilton Gibb states:
“.…the Makkans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self confidence Muhammad appealed as a supreme
18 Rhetoric is the art or study of using language effectively and persuasively; it is a skill
speaker and writers utilize in the construction of discourse so that it can sound effective and persuading. In its broadest sense, rhetoric is defined in the (Microsoft Bookshelf, 2008, p. 98) as “the theory and practice of eloquence, whether spoken or written. Spoken rhetoric is oratory. Rhetoric defines the rules that should govern all prose composition or speech designed to influence people’s judgment or feelings”. Majed Al-Quran and Bakri Al-Azzam, Apostrophe: A Rhetorical Device of the Qur’an, Zarqa: Hashemite University, 2009, Volume 7, p. 3.
19 To highlight the Qur’ans uniqueness, the following list has been provided to show that the Qur’an employs more rhetorical features than any other rhymed prose: Analogy (For example see Al-Ghashiyah [88]: 15–16); Alliteration (For example see Al-Ahzab [33]: 71); Antiphrasis (For example see Al-Dukhan [44]: 49); Antithesis (For example see Fatir [35]: 7 & 9:82); Asyndeton (For example see Al-Ra’d [13]: 2); Assonance (For example see Al-Ghashiyah [88]: 25-26); Cadence (this is present in the whole Qur’an; it is a major rhetorical feature which is an inimitable feature of the Quran. The Qur’anic discourse uses assonance to deliver all the rhetorical features while employing the use of many phonetic features such as assimilation, nasalization, etc. No other text has done this before, especially in such frequency.); Chiasmus (See for example Ali Imran [3}: 27); Epizeuxis (See for example Alam Nashrah [94] :5-6); Equivoque (See for example Al-Nur [24]: 43); Homonymy (See for example Al-Baqarah [2]: 14-15); Hyperbole (See for example Al-A’raf [7]: 40, and Al-Zumar [39]: 71-72); Isocolon (See for example Al-Talaq [65]: 7-10); Metaphor (See for example Maryam [19]: 4); Metonymy (See for example Al-Qamar [54] :13); Parenthesis (See for example Al-Nisa` [4]: 73, and Al-A’raf [7]: 42); Polypton (See for example ‘Abasa [80]: 25-26); Rhetorical Questions (See for example Al-Rahman [55]: 60, and Al-Saffat [37]: 91-92); Stress (See for example Ali Imran [3]: 92, and Al-‘Ankabut [29]: 62 &); Synedoche (See for example Al-Balad [90]: 12-13). This comprehensive subject requires further analysis. See Hamza Andreas Tzortzis, The Unique Literary Form of the Qur’an, retrieved from www.islam21c.com, on May 15 2010
73
confirmation of his mission to the Koran itself. Like all Arabs they were connoisseurs of language and rhetoric. Well, then if the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not), then let them accept the Koran as an outstanding evidential miracle”20
Makky and Madany science have relevance to the contemporary
reading effort. Character, style and containing language that are the
concern of this study provide clues about different horizons of the partners
of dialogue. One of the rhetorical forces showed by the Qur’an is its style
in shifting the addresse between the Prophet, Muslims, and all humankind.
Let us see, for example, in Al-Hujraat [49] : 13. The text provides:
��^-/�9ed�� �3���c�� N�?�g�Z��D !E ���5$F �>�?� ���Z Z��?� ��{s��
P�W N�? ?Db�� �g%��� ��]^���Z !E�� ⌦Dc�{5,� ���Z �Dc�{5,�� ��{s�� P�W �Db�� �g%��� �]^���Z N !E��
N�S�¡��☺���8 �MDb{5QS �W !E�� N��¡��M��g�8 ��d����;V��,M N
¢C��,M ���£¤E�� D�?R5QS���� /1�M �d☺��¢�� H ��Z�� ���� �w�� *¥ed��9�y9�� ��1K
�P?p�d�Q��� TTU ��^-/�9ed�� �3���c�� N�?�g�Z��D
N�?*�¦�w�\�� �g%��§⌧O ����Z K��Q��� �.,� �¨1�M K��Q���
�6�6,� N !E�� N�?R555���Z !E�� ��w��� �DbQ�1_M �©�1�M H x���D~�W 6Q"�/�#�W P�W !nQ"�9�� ����� �=7&��W
�ªw�7�Z #?�☺;K)��b�� H N�?Q�f8���� �c�� H fP,� �c��
���C?�8 ��«�=CY TkU ��^-/�9ed�� ¡f�fg��� �e ,� MDbd$B��#�� ���Z
��⌧O�+ H��ª yW�� ��Dbd$B��1\�� �ªM?�1D� !n¬c��*���
N�u?1��Y�1�w�� H fP,� �MDb�Z��"�W /B�� �c�� ��Db����8�W
H fP,� �c�� i�«,��� �%�,*� T)U ® ������ r��Vx��;V�� �fB�Z��D N n1
���� N�?�g�Z�18 �&bd���� N�u?D�?1 �$B�☺#��W � ☺���� UnD��/��
20 H. A. R. Gibb, Islam: A Historical Survey, Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 28
74
��d☺��¢�� 2,3 ��Db,M?1�1 N P,��� N�?�1<�r18 �c�� ��W�c?��Y�� !E
�Dbw,��� ����Z ��Db,�d☺���W �I��<⌧� H fP,� �c�� ⌦Y?QS⌧i i�«�=CY TU
�☺e ,� -.?�B�Z��☺���� �3���c�� N�?�g�Z��D �c��,M v�W,c?��Y��
C�16 ���� N�?M��8���� N���/�d\�� ��,���I�?�Z�9,M 6,�&5QS �W�� 2,3 Un<,4 �c�� H
*¥ed��9�yW ��1K -.?1�/d}¯��� T,U �n1 -.?�☺�^�118�W �c��
��Q4�g��/,M |c���� ��#�1�� ��Z 2,3 ��I�?d☺55��� ��Z�� 2,3 ��Y;V�� H
|c���� U¤nDb,M �D�⌧� �6<,��� T�U �P?°B�☺�� *�<#��� P�W
N�?�☺#��W N n1 �E N�?°B�☺�8 �2#8�� MDb☺d#�,� N Un�M |c�� ���☺�� �MDb�<#��� P�W �MDb±/K
�d☺��²�� P,� 6;gDO �3���/d{³ TjU fP,� �c�� �6#�1�� {��7⌧i
��I�?d☺55��� ��Y;V���� H |c���� *%�&¯�M �☺,M �P?1�☺1�8
TU
There is wide agreement among the commentators that this verse is
a broad declaration of universal human equality, with piety (taqwa>)
being the only valid basis for making distinctions between human beings.
This argument is supported by the placement of the verse in Al-
Hujraat, which is concerned with setting out the mutual obligations and
respect owed by members of the new Muslim community in seventh
century Medina to each other and with eliminating the hard-hearted
tribalism that plagued the life of the “desert Arabs.”
There is a very interesting shift in addressees for each of these
verses. The verses condemning defamation, derision, sarcasm, and the like
are addressed to Muslims (verses 11-12). However, the verse declaring
that the human species comes from one source, and that piety (taqwa>)
should be the only distinction made between human beings, is addressed to
all humankind (verse 13). The verses criticizing the “desert Arabs” for
their tribalism are addressed to the Prophet Muhammad (verses 14-18). He
75
is instructed to remind them that they have no faith and that adoption of
the faith requires an abandonment of their “tribal preferences and
prejudices.”21
On this basis, the following things should remain in consideration
before understanding the Qur'an:
Firstly, comprehending indications and clues within the Qur'an.
Once a person is able to ascertain the addressees of the discourse such that
which among them are addressed directly and which indirectly; what is the
phase whose circumstances the addressees are facing; what are the
questions which have been raised by this phase whose answer is awaited
by both friend and foe; what is the nature of the hostility by the enemies
and what are the circumstances in which allies and friends find themselves
in; what are various groups which have joined forces with the enemies
while adopting various measures and tactics and what are the thoughts of
the allies and associates, then the whole structure and sequence of the
discourse shall become fully evident.22
All these aspects speak of themselves within the drift of the
discourse. Thus if they are ascertained through hard work, the whole
sequence and arrangement of the Qur'an becomes fully evident and the
effect of reading a chapter is the same as that of listening to an apt and
timely oration of a great orator.
Secondly, the direction of address of the Qur'an should be
ascertained at each place. The direction of address shifts a number of times
in the Qur'an at very short intervals and sometimes even in a single verse.
At one instant, Muslims would be addressees and at the next the
mushriku>n (polytheists) would become the addressees; similarly, the
People of the Book would be addressed in a verse and all of a sudden the
21 Bernard K. Freamon, Some Reflection on Post-Enlightenment Qur’anic Hermeneutics,
Michigan: Michigan State Law Review, 2006, p. 1424-1425 22 Mohamed Sadek, Principles of understanding the Qur’an, retrieved from
http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/articles.php on May 16, 2010.
76
address would shift to the Muslims. A similar shift is experienced in
singular and plural entities.
This change occurs both in the speaker and the spoken to. At one
instant the speaker would be God and then suddenly Gabriel would assume
the speaker’s role. At another instant, the speaker would be Gabriel and the
suddenly the discourse would emanate from the mouth of the Prophet. In
short, just as an orator shifts from one addressee to another by shift in his
tone, facial expressions and words used, in a similar manner, the address in
the Qur'an also changes rapidly.
Thus it is essential that this aspect must be given full consideration
while interpreting and explaining the Qur'an. It should be ascertained
whether the speaker for example is God, Gabriel, the Prophet or the
people. Similarly, it should be determined that the spoken to is God, the
Prophet or the people. Among the people, it must be ascertained if they are
Muslims or Hypocrites or the People of the Book or the Idolaters among
the Ishmaelites or if they are two or three among these or if all of them are
spoken to.
Then there may be instances of ambiguity in address as well.
Sometimes, a verse would apparently address the Prophet; however, in
reality the address would be directed at the Muslim ummah. Similarly, an
apparent address to him would actually be directed at the leadership of the
Quraysh or to the People of the Book. Examples of such addresses abound
in the Qur'an. Thus it is essential that this differentiation be made with full
caution, and it should be fully ascertained as to who is the actual
addressee. Without this, the real purport of the Qur'an cannot be grasped.
Thirdly, general and specific verses should be differentiated. There
are many places in the Qur'an where the words are general; however, the
context testifies with full certainty that something specific is meant. The
Qur'an uses the word ا���س (people), but it does not refer to all the people of
the world; and many a time they do not even refer to all the people of
Arabia: the word refers to a group among them. It refers to ن�� ا��
77
(polytheists) but they do not refer to all those who are guilty of polytheism.
Similarly, the words ب� (And from these People of the Book) do �� اھ� ا��
not refer to all the People of the Book of the world.23
Those three aspects are important to be recognized before getting
close with the Qur’an. Further more, every individual starts to understand
from their best advantage point to arrive at the meaningful sense.
4. Historically-Affected Consciousness: Dialoguing Past, Present and
Future
In Gadamer’s view, history is not a past event regardless of our
actual consciousness and our present horizon. On the other hand, our
actual contemporariness is not something isolated from the influence of
traditions, which are transferred to us through history. Human existence is
historical and at the same time is contemporary. Humans will not be able
to exceed their actual horizon in understanding the historical phenomena.
Humans will not be able to move in the past with the aim that he interacted
with it and understand it objectively. Traditions (sunnah or taqli>d) is
transferred to us through the corridors of time in which we live in it; the
very thing that has shaped our consciousness.
When we begin to understand the past from the actual horizon, we
will not (be) apart from the influence of various traditions and history.
Human lives in a frame of historicity. This is a historical
corridor/framework that are not visible to human but it is the place where
they live, as water becomes a place for fish to live without realizing it,
because the fish do not see the water. Based on that, then our concept of
history is not start from nothing, but start from our actual horizon.24
Gadamer’s reinstatement of temporal horizon in understanding a
text implies that time is no longer primarily a gap to be bridged, but in
fact the ground in which the present is rooted. This point is what
23 Ibid. 24 Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Al-Qur’an, Hermeneutik, dan Kekuasaan: Kontroversi dan
Penggugatan Hermeneutik Al-Qur’an, Trans. Dede Iswadi et. al., Bandung: RQiS, 2003, p. 71
78
differentiates Gadamer from earlier philosophers who tried to find a way
to close the temporal gap between text and interpreter. Gadamer has
achieved this bridging process by rehabilitating the notions of tradition
and prejudice.
Related to Makky and Madany science, the concept of historical
understanding is demanding contemporaneity. Like enjoying a work of art,
an understanding of the Qur'an is in fact experiencing contemporaneity
with discourses it offers. The contemporaneity concept means making
something foreign and distant, which previously did not exist here and is
the property of others, be ours here and now. Without this concept, the
understanding will not come to the subjectivity of experience that produces
a masterpiece.25
Readings are formed from a separate structure from the reading
levels that divided into two things: the condition of the readers and the
variety of readers who caused the difference of thought and ideological
aspects. Obviously, the product of interpretation depends on the
temporality of the reader or the interpreter. Because, an interpretation
would involve the process of discourse transformation from a particular
phase of civilization to others. In other contexts, an interpretation is a
discourse transformation from native language (al-lughah al-as}liyyah) to
other languages.
Let have a look at a historical texts in the Qur’an. For example, the
verses about the people of Shu’ayb and some of his teachings. In order to
have a better understanding of his teachings, we need basic historical data
because the Qur’an ignores who these people were, where and when they
lived, and what social structures they had. The interest of the Qur’an lies in
how the people of Shu’ayb responded to the teachings and guidance of
their prophet, whom they had rejected. In Al-A’raf [7] : 85-86, the Qur’an
presents this as a lesson to Muslims:
25 Inyiak Ridwan Muzir, Hermeneutika Filosofis Hans-Georg Gadamer, Yogyakarta: Ar-
Ruzz Media, 2008, p. 117-118.
79
H2#o,��� -����/�Z ��1K�V�W �B*�71D� b �m�� ���?��d��
N���/*���� �c�� ��Z �Q4�� ����Z �=d��,� �#%��⌧i N �/� �Q4�8�Dc�\
��$B��x�M ���Z ��Q4,#MCY N N�?1���9�� !n�<⌧4����
-.��´��☺������ !E�� N�?R5��*�8 ¢f�fB��� ��1K�Dc��<���W !E��
N���/&5�S18 ~,3 ��Y;V�� /1�M ��&�d#��³,� H ��Q4��I�+ �%���
��Db�� P,� 6;gQ" -���g�Z�XZ ,U !E�� N���/�1���8 U¤nQ4,M ��I�%&�
�P��/��?18 -.�Y/R¯�8�� ��� Un<,4 �c�� ���Z -µ�Z��D v�=,M
��� ?D�4�8�� �☯\�?�� H N�S���Q"�+���� �+,� 6;gQ"
§⌧<,�� ��Q"�%�B�b�� N N����RQ ���� ��<⌧O -.⌧O 1��4��d��
�3��/&5�S�☺���� �U
“to the Madyan people we sent Shu'aib, one of their own brethren: He said: "O My people! worship Allah. ye have no other god but Him. Now hath come unto you a Clear (sign) from your Lord! give just measure and weight, nor withhold from the people the things that are their due; and do no mischief on the earth after it has been set In order: that will be best for you, if ye have Faith. And squat not on every road, breathing threats, hindering from the path of Allah those who believe In him, and seeking In it something crooked; but remember How ye were little, and He gave you increase. and hold In your mind's eye what was the end of those who did mischief.”
Elaborating on this end, the Qur’an states Al-‘Ankabut [29] : 36-
37:
H2#o,��� -����/�Z ��1K�V�W �B*�71D� �m����� ���?��d��
N���/4���� �c�� N�?�\�Y���� �>�?�<���� ��&�;�� !E�� N��?�§1�8
2,3 ��Y;V�� �3��/&5�S�Z )�U #?Ms<⌧4�� �����8⌧<��9��
1�⌧S�\C���� N�?���*�³�9�� ~,3 ���KY�7 -���☺�§d\ )jU
“to the Madyan (people) (We sent) their brother Shu'aib. then He said: "O My people! serve Allah, and fear the Last Day: nor Commit evil on the earth, with intent to do mischief. But They rejected him: then the mighty Blast seized them, and They Lay prostrate In their homes by the morning.”
80
Thus, one of the key objectives of the historically oriented texts of
the Qur’an appears to be to teach and to present moral questions. The
lessons to be learned from these historical events may be identified by
exploring their impact on the first generations of Muslims, and by relating
this to the modern reader of the Qur’anic text.
It is the interpreter’s responsibility to find the meanings that lie
‘behind’ these texts as well as to explore relevance and provide reasonable
accounts of lessons to be learned by contemporary people. From this, a set
of principles and values can be construed to guide a current Muslim
community in its quest for a clearer identity as it attempts to follow what it
believes to be “true Islam”. By expounding historical events without
relating them to contemporary circumstances, the interpreter performs
little service to the community of believers. Knowledge of basic facts
alone, whether they are historical or otherwise, does not enhance the life of
the believer. One of the roles of scripture is to guide the individual and the
community to a better life in this world and in the Hereafter. The
interpreter of historical texts can facilitate this by relating the past to the
present, even if the interpretation leads to an approximate meaning.
B. The Relevance26 of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics with Makky and Madany
Science
The contemporary Qur’anic studies have shaped variety of discourses,
which is not only involving the study of normative content of the Qur’an but
also seeing the historical aspects of all events associated with the selection of
meaning and standardization in the sciences of the Qur’an (Ulu>m al-
26 Richard E. Palmer suggests three dimensions of the word “relevance”: 1) Current
meaningfulness; 2) Critique, and; 3) Transformation. In this chapter, the writer chooses the third dimension: Transformation. A thing or text we encounter may be relevant if it redefines what we are doing, such that we understand it and ourselves in a new light, a new way. We begin to place different requirements on what we do. It offers an alternative possibility for seeing and doing to the present perspective. This is the transformative dimension.
81
Qur’a>n).27 Among the studies that are concerned about the history and
chronology of the Qur’an is the study of the verses and chapters classified as
Makky and Madany. The study on Makky and Madany concept demonstrates
that the process of gradual revelation of the Qur’an in some respects can be
seen, beyond the traditional studies about the wisdom behind such graduation,
as a witness to the progression of history passed by human beings,
specifically referring to the Arabian at the time of the Prophet, in a particular
period and social structure of community.
This philosophical dimension of Makky and Madany has relevance
with Gadamer’s hermeneutics. Hermeneutical phenomenon, for Gadamer, is
not merely a matter of method an sich, not a problem of appropriate method
to understand a text, nor a standardized science that could meet the criteria of
modern science. Understanding the tradition is not only a matter of
responding a text; rather it is capturing the inspiration and admitting the
truth.28 Gadamer’s hermeneutics, categorized as philosophical hermeneutics,
make itself busy with everything that makes understanding is possible and
why it is possible to be. The question “How to read?” is replaced by the
question, “How do we communicate at all?”29
The relevance of Gadamer’s hermeneutics with Makky Science and
Madany is because for two reasons: firstly, Gadamer’s emphasis on dialogue
between past, present and future; secondly, Gadamer’s concern to the
universality of language as the (only) mean of dialogue as well as the medium
of human existential.
The relevance of philosophical hermeneutics can be seen from its
commitment to the metaphysics of the theory of understanding. It means that
what makes Gadamer’s hermeneutics called philosophic is a series of
27 See Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’an (Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica,
1980), p. xi-xvi. 28 Inyiak Ridwan Muzir, Hermeneutika Filosofis Hans-Georg Gadamer, Yogyakarta: Ar-
Ruzz Media, 2008, p. 97-101 29 Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/ on January 17, 2009.
82
ontological claims about power and way of working of what is so called in
traditional metaphysics as the human soul (Geistmannlich). Gadamer said:
“I don’t intend to produce a manual for guiding understanding in the manner of the earlier hermeneutics. I did not wish to elaborate a system of rules to describe, let alone direct, the methodical procedure of the human sciences… my real concern was and is philosophic: not what we do or what ought to do, but what happens to us over and above our wanting and doing, since that which 'happens' to us over and above our explicit activities is the effective-historical constitution of our own knowing selves.”30
In general, all the main concepts of philosophical hermeneutics set
afloat the philosophical relevance of this issue in every aspect of human
understanding. That is why Gadamer claimed it (philosophical hermeneutics)
as something universal.
The universality of philosophical hermeneutics is the motion of text
towards experience. By mean, understanding is not an activity that done
consciously and based on human choices when faced with an object (text).
Instead, the continuous human experience is a constant stimulation to make
an interpretation, because “the other” and something alien continually meet
the human experience in daily life. Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics and Makky and Madany
science are not two contrasting disciplines. To oppose both disciplines is a big
mistake, since each has its own domain and proportion. Makky and Madany
science with its certain method as part of Ulu>m al-Qur’a>n can be operated
on philosophical foundation of understanding concerned by Gadamer, since
he did not offer any methodological procedures.
The study on Makky and Madany, as beside an effort to put the
historic journey of revelation, is also describes the actual response of the
people who receive and interact with the history of the social mission of the
Qur’an, as well as a proponent data for knowledge about Muslim history
30 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, edited translation by Garrett Barden and
John Cumming, New York: Seabury Press, 1975, p. xviii.
83
formation process as first recipient community and who that involved in
revelation. For that reason this study is placed in the spectrum of
contemporary study of the Qur’an as well as a response that utilize
conventional findings about Makky and Madany science for the actualization
of the functions of the Qur’an as an easily understood guide for those who
really want to understand it.
To hold on the main functions of the Qur'an as a guidance for
mankind based on five basic principles (al-kulliyya>t al-khamsah)
(maintenance of religion, soul, mind, possessions, and guarantee the
continuity of descent and honor) and based on considerations that religion
(religious taught) is for the benefit and kindness of the human existential,31
then that should be considered as criteria related to the authority of Makky
and Madany verses are:
Firstly, particularity and universality. The content of Qur’anic verses
which are universal and cosmopolite must be carried out more than the
particular. In this case, the verses containing about the principle-universal
values such a commands to create justice to all human beings without
discrimination (distinction), containing the principle of equality of dignity of
all human beings (Muslim-Non-Muslim, male-female, master-servant), and
containing all human beings to do justice without discrimination on the basis
of fundamental rights (the principle of maintenance of the soul, religion,
wealth, self esteem and guarantee the continuity of descent and honor) have
precedence over the verses that contradict with those basic principles,
although perhaps the principle-universal verses are revealed early.
It will be a very big risk, because at least many of the particular-
individual verses must be “subjugated” by the universal verses. However,
because the Qur’an should function also for the benefit of now people that
required respecting others regardless of faith, ethnicity and race, without any
31 Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, Tekstualitas al-Qur'an: Kritik terhadap ‘Ulumul Qur’an, Op.
Cit, p. 96.
84
discriminatory attitudes, the demand requires transformation.32 As an
example can be mentioned: that the verses about jizyah, a mandatory for non-
Muslims as a form of submission to the Muslim government for protection
against them, regardless of whether it included in Makky or Madany verses,
should be improved by selecting the verses that teach equality of rights and
obligations between Muslim and non Muslim as modern citizens (nation
state) that guaranteed their rights on the basis of human rights, cored on
justice and equality and non-discriminatory and can be derived essentially
from the Qur'an . Here the “conventional” concept of Makky and Madany is
almost lost its relevance.
Secondly, the content of the verses that are more humane and friendly
and emphasize principles of equality, equity and justice must take precedence
over the others that significantly encourage attitudes of hostility, hatred,
conflict and discrimination. For example: the verses that call for fighting non-
Muslims who partly addressed to the pagans, idolaters, or non-Muslims in
general, in the context of the modern state should be replaced with rules that
prioritize persuasive and dialogic approach to solve existing problems. In
modern context, it can be referred to the fact that if there are earthquake that
strikes an area, irrespective of the religion of the residents who were there,
every person whatever his religion is required to provide assistance as their
ability. Thus some form and ideals that are expected from the approaches as
set out above.
Thirdly, related to the importance of religious symbols. Religious
symbols in the form of institutional religion are important because ignoring it
would ignore the historical dimension. But the emphasis and priority to the
32An interesting discussion about this issue in a whole book, see Gary Gutting (ed.),
Paradigms and Revolutions Appraisals and Applications of Thomas Kuhn Philosophy of Science (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1980), either it related with the aspect of philosophy, social sciences, the humanities or history of science.
85
symbol (having religion) rather than the essence of religiousness (being
religious) is not a good choice to create a good inter-religious relationship.33
Those three criterions must be synthesized with the interests and
welfare of human beings who “read” the Qur’an to the context of the present.
Since the light of the Qur’an is applicable for each who wants to make a
dialogue with it and to receive any guidance “offered” by it.
The Qur’an is a living phenomenon, like the music played by the
orchestra while the Mus}h}af, the written text, is analogous to the musical
note; it is silent.34 The Qur’an hermeneutics has to take seriously the living
phenomenon and to stop reducing the Qur’an to be only a text. It is time now
to shift our conceptual framework from the Qur’an as a “text” to the Qur’an
as “discourse”. Discourse is a sharing and exchanging opinions or thoughts.
So the discourse is the medium for a dialogue process among various
individuals to enrich the knowledge and thinking in order to seek a higher
truth.35
For Muslim scholars the Qur’an was always a text, from the moment
of its canonization until now. It is time now to pay close attention to the
Qur’an as discourse or discourses. It is not sufficient any more to re-
contextualize a passage or some passages when it is only needed to fight
against literalism and fundamentalism or when it is needed to wave away
certain historical practice that seems unfit in our modern context.
Regarding the Qur’an as discourse is an alternative approach in the
frame of existential understanding of the Qur’an. By positioning it as partner
of dialogue and enabling it to “speaks” freely, then the understanding (and
33See Issa J. Boullata, “Fastabiqu al-Khairat : A Qur’anic Principle of Interfaith Relation” in YY Haddad and WY Haddad, Christian-Muslim Encounters (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1995), p. 43-53.
34 It was the Fourth caliph ‘Ali (656-660) the cousin of Muhammad and his son in law who claimed the mushaf as silent; it does not speak, but humans speak it out. ‘Ali made the differentiation between the silent mushaf, the text, in one hand, and the vocalized Qur’an by the people on the other hand. The context in which this statement emerged is important, because it could shed a lot of light on the present situation in which the political manipulation of the meaning of the Qur’an is hardly cancelled. E. Brill,’Ali b. Abu Talib, in the Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition, Leiden, vol. 1, p. 381. See also footnote no. 9.
35 Komaruddin Hidayat, Memahami Bahasa Agama: Sebuah Kajian Hermeneutik, Jakarta: Penerbit Paramadina, 1996, p. 130
86
therefore interpretation) is beginning. “Understanding begins...when
something addresses us. This is the primary hermeneutical condition”36 said
Gadamer.
Our understanding of literary text does not indicate our understanding
of the experience of the author. However, it shows an understanding of
existential experience that reveals itself through the text. Literary text is a
media that remains located between the creator and recipient. While the
process to understand it is always changing with the changing horizons and
experience. However, the (being) fixed of the text, as a form, is a fundamental
factor that makes the process of understanding becomes possible.37
Recently, Muhammad Arkoun distinguished between the phenomenon
of the Qur’an, the recited discourse, and the Mus}h}af, which contains what
Arkoun identifies as the “Closed Corpus” or Scripture through the process of
canonization. Modern scholars of the Qur’an share the concept of the Qur’an
as a “text” despite the different paradigm of “meaning” each tries to grasp and
deduce from the Qur’an. Dealing with the Qur’an as only a “text” enhances
the possibility of interpretation and reinterpretation but allows as well the
ideological manipulation not only of the meaning but also of the “structure”,
following the pattern of polemic interpretation. Dealing with the Qur’an as
only a “text” then reduces its status and ignores the fact that it is still
functioning as a “discourse” in everyday life.38
Without rethinking the Qur’an and re-invoking its living status as a
“discourse”, whether in the academia or everyday life, meaningful approach
cannot be achieved. It has to be democratically open hermeneutics because it
is about the “meaning of life”. If we are serious and sincere in freeing
religious thought from power manipulation, whether political, social, or
36 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, edited translation by Garrett Barden and
John Cumming, New York: Seabury Press, 1975, p. 266. 37 Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Al-Qur’an, Hermeneutik, dan Kekuasaan: Kontroversi dan
Penggugatan Hermeneutik Al-Qur’an, Op. Cit, p. 71. 38 Nasr Hamid Abi Zayd, Rethinking the Qur’an: Towards a Humanistic Hermeneutic, a
shortened and modified version of Nasr Hamid’s inaugural lecture delivered on May 27, 2004 for Ibn Rushd Academic Chair, for Islam and Humanism, established by the University of Humanistics, Utrecht, The Netherlands, p. 2
87
religious in order to return the formulation of “meaning” back to the
community of believers, we need to shift our way understanding.
With its style, the Qur'an has provided an opportunity for readers to
discuss with. In a simple term, the Qur'anic style can be sorted into two
categories: prescriptive and descriptive. Firstly, the conceived structure of
meaning is always imperative and persuasive that requires the reader to
follow the author’s message it formulated in the text. The position of the
author became the center of rotation, whiles the readers are asked to follow
his call and advice. Unlike the first style, the second style, descriptive, is
more democratic. The space is open widely for the reader to participate in
discussing issues.39 Discourse as a dialogue event can be viewed as an
exposition of thought which is not yet final and is not going to the finals,
because the insight and spirit to obtain the truth was always in front and the
truth does not recognize an end.40
The presence of the Qur’anic texts especially among Muslims has
become a sustainable vortex center of Islamic discourse. Komaruddin
Hidayat, in Memahami Bahasa Agama, described Islamic discourse vortex
presented by the Qur'an as centripetal and centrifugal motion. In one hand,
the centrifugal motion occurs because the texts of the Qur’an have such a big
impetus for Muslims to perform a variety of interpretations to it. On the other
hand, various forms of thought among Muslims always want to reconcile
their ideas to the Qur'an, even though for the sake of mere justification.41
Like the Master, the Qur'an is always being loyal to wander and see
the pupils, which spread across the face of the earth since the 14th century.
With this existing strength, the Qur'an itself serves every question and
objection from its readers, which come with various and unique individual
horizon.42
39 Ibid, p. 77-78 40 Komaruddin Hidayat, Op. Cit, p. 130 41 Ibid, p. 15 42 Ibid, p. 14
88
Like a mirror, the Qur'an could reflect various faces according to the
people who come to reflect and dialogue with it. If this assumption is
approved, then the real meaning that emerged from the Qur’an was also
strongly influenced by the natural mind, culture, and language of the readers
(the horizon of the readers). Every reader, either consciously or
unconsciously, doing the understanding which is considered authentic and
suitable for him. Every person at certain moments has to do ijtiha>d for their
self. Everyone is a mujtahid for themselves.43
Gadamer’s hermeneutics defines understanding as a way of the human
existence. Gadamer’s approach to understanding and interpretation is
intended to give human beings the power and confidence they need to rely on
themselves. All of us are in similar position of trying to understand and to
interpret. All of us are capable of creating our own understanding based on
our own tradition, experiences and knowledge. For this reason, each of us will
create a unique understanding and interpretation. Therefore, if there are
differences and disagreements among people over understanding and
interpreting, this simply further evidence for what we are and who we are as
human beings. In accordance with this matter, Gadamer has mentioned the
value of authority in understanding. As in the case of tradition and prejudice,
authority can be understood in fairer manner. Authority doesn’t imply blind
obedience or abdication on the part of people. Indeed, authority is based on
the act of acknowledgment of knowledge.44
The empirical diversity of the religious meaning is part of our human
diversity about the meaning of life in general, which is supposed to be a
positive value in our modern living context. In order to re-connect the
question of the meaning of the Qur’an to the question of the meaning of life it
is now imperative to indicate the fact that the Qur’an was the outcome of
dialogue, debate, argumentation, accepting and rejecting, not only with pre-
43 Ibid, p. 16 44 Yeni Ratna Yuningsih, Op. Cit., p. 26
89
Islamic norms, practice and culture, but with its own previous assessments,
presupposition, assertions etc.
According to ‘Ata Al-Sid, the understanding of the Qur'an emphasizes
the importance of re-strengthening of what so-called as event-of-utterance
through interpretation struggle in a form of reflective dialectic and praxis of
living. This agenda is merely done to confirm the faith, because faith is not a
static situation. Affirmation on the existence of faith as a source of human
authenticity is the very thing that allows people to experience the event-of-
utterance. Faith is the sine qua non for understanding. Otherwise, all the
things that cause the damage of faith means also prevents human to receive
true understanding of the Qur'an. This authentic existence is then making a
synergy with the driving force of the Qur'anic language. The term driving
force is not only in the beauty and superiority of the Qur'anic language, but
also in its ability and capability to present the ideas of divinity and humanity,
for which the first recipient community is entirely a new discourse, but hard
to deny its truth because its consistency with health mind and clear and open
hearts.45
Language of the Qur’anic text, as mapped through the Makky and
Madany science, should be understood as a point on their growth historically,
with the historicity of its meaning, language tools and syntax, and thus
language emerged as varied forms of logic, experience, nature, including
historical experience/tradition (also includes the experience of supernatural /
spiritual).46
45 Muhammad ‘Ata Al-Sid, Op. Cit., p. 85-96. 46 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ibid, p. 394
